Xcode is a variation on the HTML tags you may already be familiar with. Basically, it allows you to add functionality or style to your message that would normally require HTML. You can use Xcode even if HTML is not enabled in the forums. You may want to use Xcode as opposed to HTML, even if HTML is enabled, because there is less coding required, and will never break the layout of the pages you are viewing.

URL and Email Links

Xcode, unlike some other bulletin board codes, does not require you to specify links (URL) and email links. However, you can specify URL's if you wish.

To create a link, just enter the URL, with either ftp://, telnet://, http:// or https:// before the link and PHPX will automatically turn it into a link. Email does the same, just put in the email address and when you save your post, PHPX will create an email link.

If you wish to specify a URL link, or create a link on text or image you may use the [url=][/url] tags.

Linking an Image:[url=http://www.phpx.org/][img=http://www.phpx.org/images/someimage.jpg][/url] will create a link to www.phpx.org using the image specified.

Bold, Underline, and Italics Text

To make italicized text, bold text, or underlined text by encasing the applicable sections of your text with either the [b] [/b], [i] [/i], or [u] [/u] tags.

Bold Text: [b]Bold Text[/b] becomes Bold Text

Italicized Text:[i]Italicized Text[/i] becomes Italicized Text

Underlined Text:[u]Underlined Text[/u] becomes Underlined Text

You can also combine the elements:[u][b]Combo Text[/b][/u] becomes Combo Text

Text Alignment

Text can aligned however you would like using several tags: [left], [right], [center], and [block].

Left Aligned Text:[left]left aligned[/left] becomes

left aligned

Right Aligned Text:[right]right aligned[/right] becomes

right aligned

Center Aligned Text:[center]center aligned[/center] becomes

center aligned

Justified Text:[block]justified text[/block] becomes

justified text

Other Text Formatting

Text has three other attributes that can be controlled by XCode: size, style, color.

Text Size:Text can be set to sizes anywhere from 1 (unreadable) to 24 (huge).[size=18]large text[/size] becomes large text

Text Style (font):Text can be set to several different font faces. These need to be standard fonts only.[font=times]Times New Roman[/font] becomes Times New Roman

Text Color:Text can also be any color. You can use a color name, or the hex code for the color you want.[color=blue]blue text[/color] becomes blue text[color=#0000FF]blue text[/color] becomes blue text

Line Insert

To insert a line, use the [line] tag.

[line] becomes

Lists

You can make bulleted lists or ordered lists (by number or letter).

Unordered, bulleted list:[list][*] This is the first bulleted item.[*] This is the second bulleted item.[/list]This produces:

This is the first bulleted item.

This is the second bulleted item.

Note that you must include a closing [/list] when you end each list.

Making ordered lists is just as easy. Just add either [list A], [list a], [list 1], [list i], [list I]. [list A] will produce a list from A to Z, capital letters. [list a] will produce a list from a to z, lowercase letters. [list 1] will produce numbered lists. [list I] will produce a list using captial roman numerals. [list i] will produce a list of lowercase roman numerals.

Here's an example:[list A][*] This is the first bulleted item.[*] This is the second bulleted item.[/list]

This produces:

This is the first bulleted item.

This is the second bulleted item.

Images

To add a graphic within your message, just encase the URL of the graphic image as shown in the following example.

[img]http://www.yoururl.com/images/hot.jpg[/img]

In the example above, the XCode automatically makes the graphic visible in your message. Note: the "http://" part of the URL is REQUIRED for the [img] code. Also note: some forums may disable the [img] tag support to prevent objectionable images from being viewed.

Quoting other Messages

To reference something specific that someone has posted, just cut and paste the applicable verbiage and enclose it as shown below.

[quote]Ask not what your country can do for you....ask what you can do for your country.[/quote] becomes

quote:Ask not what your country can do for you....ask what you can do for your country.

Posting Code

Similar to the quote tag, the code tag preserves formatting. This useful for displaying programming code.